This repair is continued from Part 1.
Disassemble the Shower Drain
Working in the shower stall, remove the two screws that hold the strainer in place. Be careful not to drop the screws into the drain – not that this every happened to me!
Remove the Shower Drain Strainer
The shower drain strainer and two screws:
Shower Drain Strainer
The house is a bit over 9 years old and I couldn’t unscrew the strainer body by using just my thumbs. A set of channel locks is used to get better leverage and break the strainer body free. The strainer body unscrews counter-clockwise, remember: lefty-loosey, righty-tighty. It didn’t take much force with the channel locks.
Unscrewing the Shower Strainer Body
I saw several problems when I removed the shower strainer body:
- The plumbers putty was brittle and chalky from age.
- Water was seeping between the strainer body and drain body.
- Lots of crud had built up around the rubber gasket that seals the drain to the shower pan.
- Water was leaking around rubber gasket.
Strainer Body Removed from Shower Drain
The plumbers putty is brittle and flaked off in chunks.
Brittle Plumbers Putty
I pushed the shower drain body to the side with finger pressure to better see the condition of the rubber gasket. (Note to self: Don’t chew on fingernails.)
Leakage and Crud Buildup at the Gasket
I pulled out the old rubber gasket. It was wet and the cardboard friction gasket had mostly rotted away.
I moved the drain body from side-to-side to clean the crud from the bottom of the shower pan and the rim of the drain body. This area has to be clean if the new rubber gasket to be water tight.
Rubber Gasket Removed and Cleaning the Drain Lip
Cracked Shower Drain Strainer Body
I cleaned the strainer body thinking all I needed was a new rubber gasket and plumber’s putty to repair the shower drain. It wasn’t possible because shower strainer body is cracked in two places along the rim. Note the V-shaped cracks at the 12 o’clock position:
Cracked Strainer Body
Cracked rim of the strainer body:
Cracked Rim of the Strainer Body
Cause of the Shower Drain Leak
I believe the shower drain leaked when the plumber’s putty became brittle from aging, shrank and relaxed the pressure that sealed the rubber gasket. The plumber’s putty cracked away and the unsupported rim of the drain body split over time from stepping on the drain.
Note that the purpose of the plumber’s putty isn’t to prevent water from running down the side of the drain body – in fact, that’s why there are the vertical slots in the threads, to channel any water down the drain. Rather the purpose of the putty is to act as a “thread locker” to prevent the threaded drain body from working loose, thereby relieving the pressure on the rubber gasket. The rubber gasket is what makes the watertight seal between the drain and shower pan. Shower drain manufacturer’s often call for a bead of silicone caulk on the bottom of the strainer body rim to seal it to the top of the shower pan to act as a thread locker, no plumber’s putty required.
This repair is continued in Part 3.
Take care,
Bob Jackson
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Awesome howto!
However I cannot unscrew the drain. Is there some special tool for that?
I live in Canada, but the only difference is pipe material – black ABS, I guess the job is pretty much the same?
You might need a drain wrench like the Pasco Quick Set Drain Wrench 7099. Take a look at the shower drain repair in Part 8 of the series to see if your drain body has similar notches. Hopefully your plumber did not glue in the strainer body with PVC cement.
One reader improvised a drain wrench by grinding down a metal bar to engage the strainer body tabs and holding it in a pair vice grips.